Tattoos are not just for society’s outlaws anymore. Tattoos have come to symbolize life experiences, stories, points of inspiration, and celebration. As travelers we have plenty of stories to pass on, so what better way to share travel memories than a tattoo? Below we’ve highlighted travelers who choose to celebrate the saucy side of travel through globally inspired ink. From planes, trains, and automobiles to globes and maps, their tattoos document personal travel experiences. Check out Sosauce‘s round-up of travel tattoos submitted by fellow Travel Geeks:

Ashley at Plane and Simple Southwest has an outlined map of the United States tattooed on her arm, with a plane at its center.

“I’m in love with traveling and airplanes. I generally fly twice a week (and some weeks more often than that).” – Ashley / Plane & Simple on Southwest

Michael Hodson aka The Mobile Lawyer got a tattoo of the world map on his left shoulder done in Panama City. Interesting tidbit: Michael is currently on a round the world trip where he will be using all modes of transportation except for flying! The tattoo above was completed during a stop in Montevideo, Uruagay. He hopes to get one tattoo per continent on his trip, filling his map tattoo with his final route.

The above tattoo is also by Michael, featuring Mt. Kilimanjaro and the date he summitted the mountain.

“The guide and I would say Hakuna Matata to each other as a joke to keep me going up the mountain, until the last day, when it transformed into Hakuna Matata, Motherfucker — but I didn’t think that was appropriate for a tattoo.” – Michael Hodson / Mobile Lawyer

Photo Credit: Jonathon Bernstein

Gina Morra got a hibiscus flower with one of her close friends during a spontaneous trip to California a few years back. With $150 to spend, Gina’s friend proposed getting inked together.

“Today, when I look down and see the pink and green hibiscus flower on the top of my foot, it forever reminds me of the vacation that jump-started my infatuation for travel (and for the state of California).” – Gina Morra / Warm October

Lauren Quinn at Lonely Girl Travels chose to mark her love for solo travel with a tattoo of The Hermit on her forearm. Reflective of her travel ethos, Lauren’s tattoo symbolizes in letting go of fear and embracing life’s unexpected turns.

“It’s become a defining part of how I experience the world, how I exist in it. I experience the world from a more intuitive, back-of-the-brain place, where I’m okay with it not making sense, where I find a way to somehow swim through the chaos and insanity and all-too-often heartbreaking cruelty of it, and tap, however lightly, on the beautiful something at the center of it all.” – Lauren Quinn / Lonely Girl Travels

Jason from Two Backpackers chose to celebrate carpe diem with his tattoo, adding the sun at its central core. Check out footage from his tattoo session in Antigua, Guatemala:

“I imagine the sun as all powerful for all of nature, including me.  The heat gives me energy and the ability to live life as exciting as I can.” – Jason / Two Backpackers

Do you have a travel tattoo? Write your travel tattoo story or upload the photos on Sosauce and tag it “Travel Tattoos.” We’ll then post it as part of a photo essay on the Sosauce Chili Tumblr blog!

Read more posts by Alisha

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 3:56 PM and is filed under Community Interest, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.